http://youtube.com/watch?v=oa6Ai5ty6oY

I just wanted to post this again.

7/17/2008

Back

WG Pullups

10, 6, 4

Deadlifts

6x205
2x5x295
3x315

Pendlay Rows

4x5x135

Rev Hypers

3x10
1x8

Leg Raises

Good workout today...tied my PR on deads after a bit of a layoff so that was good. Im pretty sure I can beat it next week. Finally got back to 10 pullups too which is nice. Still hoping for 3x10 one day Pendlay rows the weight went down since I didnt do them after deadlifts last time haha. I loaded up 145 did one rep and it was terrrrible and I looked like a donkey so I took a bit off. The reverse hypers were also good..did a bit more volume cuz i had a bit of extra time waiting for my partner to finish cardio. I feel like I could add weight soon but not sure if I can do it at this gym or not. Also, grip was a bit better even tho I havent been doing as much grip work as I would like..nothing tore today tho and the callouses are managable and can prolly be grinded off fine so thats a plus. Still felt really hard doing the deads grip wise tho, might have been able to do more at 315 but bar was slipping bad. Maybe not tho it was pretty close between my back failing and my grip failing, which is nice.

Next weeks goals: 325x3? Do more pullup reps. I might do pullups again this week before my next back workout sometime.

Tmrw: Chest...maybe chest and triceps sort of thing. Hopefully my bench is better tmrw..I hate bench

-Mike

Also of note, yesterday was the first day I havent done some sort of cardio or went to the gym or drank (ie. a FULL rest day) and it felt really nice Might play some bball or tennis later today tho..summer sux for recovery.

-Mike

Texas Method Writeup

Interesting thread on BB.com on Texas Method and a bit of discussion on TM vs madcow 5x5. Im only on page 3/24...could take awhile but its interesting

-Mike

I'm pretty sure after a few pages it turns into a pissing match between vikingman and someone else. I didn't continue past that, so perhaps it has even more good stuff afterwards.

7/19/2008

Legs/Chest

Back Squat

5x225
4x265 PR
5x255

Box Squat

5x205
5x205
5x195

Rev Hypers

10, 8, 8

Bench Press

5x135
5x165
5x185
5x195 PR
4x195

Good workout today. I was still a bit sore from deads as I havent done them in awhile and I think they took a toll on my body but everything still went good. For squats the 265 form was prolly not quite as good as I would like but still ok. Might stay there next week and try again not sure. The 255 felt a lot better than last week so that was good. Box squats top weight didnt go up but I did more work with heavier weight overall so that was good. 205 still feels really heavy for me on these esp. as my form is still changing a bit (getting better I hope ) Really sitting far back into these now and can feel them on my hammys a LOT. Def helping my back squat tho as the weight is rising steadily so Im gonna stick with this for awhile.

My back felt realllly tight/sore after the squatting (again from not being 100% recovered from deads im sure) but the reverse hypers made it feel so much better. These are seriously awesome.

Wasnt sure if I was gonna do bench or not today..was supposed to do it yesterday and skipped the workout cuz I was sore from deads and had no spotter. Today still no spotter but I decided to go a bit lighter and work on form. I worked up slowly from doing 45 to 95 to 135 and had really good form and felt a lot better (better have good form at those weights ) I often get pain in my shoulder when benching, esp. heavy and today it felt great. I moved up to 165 and it felt light so I just kept going since everything was going well. My gf finished before me and spotted me on the last 2 sets..I didnt really push it to failure at all so she didnt hafta do anything. Better safe then sorry when going for PRs tho obv.

I think my bench went up cuz I havent done a press in awhile and my form was better. But its nice cuz now Ive regained a bit of confidence in the lift and am hoping to make more progress next week.

Next week goals: 5x265 on squat 205 on bench (should have a spot for this so Ill try for it.)

Tmrw: Off. Gonna be drinking tonite which sux cuz the workout today was so heavy but its unavoidable and I havent drank in awhile. Hopefully can eat ok tmrw and get back for monday. Monday will be prolly Squats/Box Squats, Mil press, Pendlays and some ab work.

-Mike

Workout 1

3x5 Squat
3x5 Box Squat
5x5 Pendlay Rows
5x5 Bench
3x? Rev. Hypers

Workout 2

3x5 Deads
5x5 Mil Press
5x3 Box Squats (60-70%1RM explosive, 1minute rest)
3x Assisted GHR
3x Rev. Hypers

Workout 3

3x5 Squat
3x5 Box Squat
5x5 Bench
5x? pullups
3x? Rev. Hypers

Gonna do this for awhile and see how i progress. Basically starting strength with a few more excercises. Going to probably do 3x a week, but might do 7x every 2 weeks if I am not drinking a lot etc and my recovery is good.

Also I closed my 200lb gripper with my right hand which is good. I need to get my left up to speed. I use a Heavy Gripper which apparently is a little easier to close than a CoC of the same weight, but not that far off.

On a side note I got extremely drunk last nite and puked a lot which I never do. Recovery from yesterdays workout will probably not be that good considering all Ive eaten today is basically pizza and milk. Hopefully I should be able to get my bedtime shake down tho which should help.

-Mike

milk is good. Consider dropping the DL volume, especially if you are having trouble recuperating. Not much is required to keep progress going. Also, how is the squat going to be progressed?

Those workouts look tough as hell.

Unfortunately it was a lot more pizza than milk

I am def gonna keep an eye on the deadlift volume (and the volume of the program in general). I may also drop a set of squats and alternate which variant (box or back) i do only 2 sets of. Not quite sure yet.

Also, the Rev hypers are unweighted and are more of a prehab thing than a big lift. Sets of 10 are def getting fairly easy and since I am not sure if Ill be able to add weight, they will probably stay this way, which is fine for now.

So yah it will be hard but hopefully not tooo bad. Squat will be progressed linear from workout to workout, except workout 2 which Im gonna hafta play around with as Im not used to speed work. Itll prolly be fairly linear based on the previous week. Not sure on the increments yet Ill hafta see how it goes as Ive never really done a program like this (altho my current one has sort of been evolving this way a bit).

So yah, hopefully it all works out sort of an experiment and should hopefully get a bit stronger. If I get overtrained and/or stalled then I will switch to an intermediate program.

-Mike

7/21/2008

Workout 1

Back Squat

5x225
5x265
5x275 PR

Box Squat

5x205
2x5x210 PR

Pendlay Rows

5x135
5x145
5x155 PR

Rev. Hypers

2x10
1x8

Mil. Press

5x135
5x145

Grip Work at home

Man this was a tough day. Those squats were the toughest set Ive done in awhile but were pretty good form and got them all so yay. Def was sweating like a pig after tho. Im pretty happy considering I wasnt gonna go past 265 today cuz of my likely poor recovery over the weekend, but 265 felt pretty good so I decided to up it.

Box squats were good, best form yet and added 5 lbs and also much higher avg. weight so that was good. They are helping my squat soooo much since I have (had?) a bad weak point at the bottom of my squat thanks to not going deep enuff when I started squatting. I feel a lot more confident in going for tough reps now since I dont get stuck in the bottom so badly.

Pendlays went up a bit, hit a PR so that was good. Strength felt good during these but the squats really tired me out today (prolly again since my recovery wasnt that great last weekend and I didnt have the best sleep last nite either so I was pretty tired today). As a result I felt like my breathing wasnt the best on these and was getting very fatigued.

Reverse Hypers were good. I seriously love these they make my back feel so good after a tough workout. I have had back issues in the past and these make my back go from tight to loose like nothing..love them.

Mil press i subbed for bench cuz 1) i was super tired 2) again bad recovery over the weekend and did bench on sat. Im gonna consider these two pretty interchangable (gonna still try to bench around a 2:1 ratio tho.) But umm yah I was really dead by this point and felt light headed during the 145 at the end so decided to call it a day.

I dunno if I was so tired cuz of the increased volume or not..since I was a lot more tired after squatting than normal anyways Im thinking it might have been just fatigue from a rough weekend/bad eating. Will hafta keep an eye on this tho, or else Im gonna cut back the volume.

Next workout goals: 5x285 on back squat. Maybe 215-220 on box squat. Pendlay 165. Mil press not sure...5x155 maybe.

Wednesday: Workout B, with bench subbed for mil. press

-Mike

Goals

Time to update my goals. Prolly will keep this short. Id like a 1000 powerlifting total. In this total Id like at least prolly 405DL, 315 squat and 225 bench (prolly higher for bench). Id like to close my 250lb gripper in the nearish future. Id like to be able to dunk within a yr (im 5'10 with limited vert now prolly need to add about 12" and have added about 4 in the past month or so from basically squat strength moving up) Year and a half maximum.

Thats prolly it until I get into olympic lifting or hit some of these goals. Im not really worried about body composition/looks anymore and I think Im doing well enuff to be satisfied in that area. I could prolly stand to lose a few % of bf but its not a priority at all (gonna try not to really ADD too much either tho )

-Mike

I always find overhead presses more exhausting than bench press. Probably the valsalva maneuver/staying tight.

7/23/2008

Workout 2

Speed Box Squats

3x135
3x155
3x160
3x160
3x155

Deadlifts

5x275
4x315
3x335 PR

Rev. Hypers

3x10

Bench Press

5x165
5x185
5x195
5x200 PR
4x195

Pretty good day..def. felt less exhausted than last workout. Box squats were interesting..Im gonna keep the weight down and maybe do 6 or 7x2 instead of 5x3 next time to keep the speed up. Deads were good..grip is GOOD finally. Ive been really working on it hard lately and it went v. well. I def coulda got 5x315 but I wanted to save a bit cuz I knew I was gonna try to up it a fair bit for my last set since my grip and back felt really strong still. I think Im gonna keep the volume on deads to something like this...I ramped it up a little more slowly than usual also, but with a little less reps per ramp set. But yah anyways, PR so im stoked and by 20lbs too.

Bench went pretty good..I had no spotter which sucked but still upped the weight and hit it but decided to move back down for 195 cuz I bareely got 200 and didnt feel comfortable trying again (plus I missed the 195 anyways so it was prolly a good move)

So yah thats about it...liking the new workout so far.

-Mike

7/25/2008

Workout 3

Back Squats

5x265
5x285 PR
3x295 PR

Box Squats

5x205
5x215
5x220 PR

Rev. Hypers

3x8

Bench Press

5x155
5x185
5x195
4x205 PR
3x205

Pretty good workout...set some prs which is good of course. I went at night cuz I drank a bit last nite and wasnt feelin too hot this morning. Wasnt a super bad hangover but def. didnt feel like doing squats. Felt fine by gym time altho a bit more tired than usual. Squats went well and Im lookin forward to that 3rd plate Hopefully in the next week or 2. Cant say enuff about how much this program and the box squats have helped my squat.

Bench went ok...still no spot but hopefully next time. Decided to drop pullups cuz my back was a bit sore (possibly not fully healed from deads on wed). I also wanted to do some abs but didnt get that in so maybe tmrw ill do something.

Also saw a guy trying to set a world record for going down the least with 295 on his back and making weird grunting noises while doing it. He also did the fastest warmup ive ever seen with 135..prolly 10 reps in 10 seconds (made possible because again he was going about 1/8th down) Even my gf was making fun of him..good times.

Also did some grip work when i got home.

Next: Workout 1 on Monday..gf's brothers wedding shower tmrw so prolly drinking lots again so not goin sunday. could prolly use the time off anyways, like i said backs a bit sore.

Supplements: Im looking into ALCAR (cns recovery supplement that may also help body comp. a bit. Also used by anti-agists for some benefits it has) Havent done tons of research on this. Oh yah helps with memory and focus apparently as well.

Also looking into ECGC which is the active in green tea. Heard really good things about it. Also CoQ10 or similar.

These are all basically general healthish things and not super important to me...but its nice to keep ur body healthy (esp. when you drink too much/often and play poker a lot) So yah we'll see if I end up getting some/all of these or not.

-Mike

how much do you spend on supplements per month or whatever? How do you know what's working for you and what's not? I feel like there's no way *I* could tell whether anything has had an effect on me.

TBK: Not sure what I spend on supps per month. Prolly a fair bit but I never really count. Most of the stuff I buy lasts awhile and the general health supps etc arent very expensive. If I had to guess tho Id say prolly like 200-250/mo. I waste a lot more money on a lot stupider things than health supplements tho

As far as whats working for me I just assume everything is. Maybe some of the stuff isnt working super crazy to make a noticable difference but everything I take has research behind it so I assume its making at least some diff. As an overall package it seems to be working well so I guess Im just happy with that.

-Mike

7/29/2008

Back Squat

5x275
3x315 PR
4x300

Box Squat

5x225
5x230 PR

Rev. Hypers

10, 10, 8

OH Press

5x135
5x145
5x155 PR
3x155

Hanging Ab Raises (from pullup bar)

2 sets

Well hit one of my major milestones today so that was awesome. I was planning to go for it next time but the 275 felt super light today, so I decided to just go for it while I was fresh. Form wasnt the greatest (rep 1 was good, 2nd was a bit worse and 3rd I almost didnt make it up...this was v. heavy for me), so Im not gonna go past this until I can hit 5x315 I think. I think taking the last 3 days off really helped me get it too..havent taken 3 days off in awhile.

Box squats went good too...good form etc. Rev. Hypers were good I figured out if I put a pad on the machine Im using (ghetto rev. hypers on a 45 degree hyper station) then I dont get bruising around my hips that I have been getting. So thats good.

I didnt do any seperate back work which sux cuz Ive been slacking on it lately. I was gonna but my back was really sore after my last workout and also pretty tired (hence only 2 sets of box squats) and I didnt wanna push it.

I wanted to do bench instead of OH Press today (again cuz of my back I just feel its a safer excercise when my back is fried) but the benches were busy as hellll today. So yah, still went good I was just really careful on them but like I said went well.

So thats about it. I need to get my back up to par with my squats as Ive been working them really hard and my squat to dead ratio is getting really close again. I think I will prolly (hopefully) dead 350+ on thurs but still I know its lagging. Im more concerned with squats atm anyways, but its better to be balanced of course.

Side notes: Saw a guy fail unspotted at 225 on bench today...that sucked for him but a couple guys were there pretty quick so he was fine. Weight was up to 187 yesterday so thats going good too. Also probably gonna get this...delivery is 3-4 weeks tho which sucks. Oh well. 170 + 60$ shipping if ur wondering. Adjusts from 11" to 16"



-Mike

I've done the reverse hypers ghetto style with a bench and a bosu ball. Not recommended.

goals look easily doable except the vertical. Maybe if you were sick talented and doing plyos and O-lifts, 12 inches in a year would be a ridicurous gain

that's for box squatting right? How heavy is that thing? looks pretty handy

and nice job on all the PRs, that must have been a sick day

Hmm well that sucks about the vert We'll see cuz I havent actually been jumping with shoes on not sure how much that will add. I def dont think Im sick talented so thats a big strike i think

not sure how heavy the box is but its pretty sweet. im just squatting on a low bench right now and 1) not sure if its quite low enuff 2) its not as solid or wide of a base. I was gonna squat onto like a step up thing until i read this

Also I rly wanna get a rev. hyper but im busto and my gf wont let me

-Mike

7/31/2008

Speed Box Squats

2x135
3x2x155
2x2x160

Deadlifts

5x315
3x335
2x345
2x350
2x355 PR

Rev Hypers

3x10

Bench Press

5x185
5x195
2x5x205 PR

Good day overall...deads went good...very high intensity. Got some new PR's on it which was nice. Grip is becoming an issue again at the higher weights...basically dropped bar at 355 coming down last rep. Controlled drop I think with deads I will be sticking with 4x3 or 5x2ish reps for a bit. I really like a slower ramping on deads and it seems to take me awhile to get fully warmed up for them and its just easier to get that with more sets.

Box squats were good...I dunno not much to say about these on speed day. Thought form was pretty good and stuff.

Bench was good...I really wish I had a spotter more (didnt today). I woulda like to have moved up to 210 but w/e I was pretty exhausted after all the deads and 205 was v. tough.

Goin away for the long weekend tmrw = 3 days of drinking and bad recovery and wont be back in the gym will prolly tues so hopefully i dont regress too much/at all during that time..who knows. Ill prolly bring my grip trainers up to the lake with me and take it a bit ez on one of the nites and do some swimming so hopefully all that will keep me progressing (plus the time off from the gym prolly wont hurt)

-Mike

8/5/2008

Back Squat

5x275
5x295
5x305

Box Squat

5x225
5x230

Rev Hypers

3x10

WG Pullups

10, 6, 5

Bench Press

5x185
5x205
4x210
3x215 PR

Good to be back in the gym after the layoff. Last few days have been full of drinking and eating like crap so that sucked. Squats felt much better form wise. Im glad to have gotten 315 since it was starting to affect my training being so close to it (pushing my weights too hard) Prolly will do 310 or 315x5 next week hopefully and with good form.

Bench and pullups were good..still no spot for bench except my gf on my last set (She squatted 135x5 today, good milestone for her) Might add weight on pullups next time if I can find a weight belt)

Rev. hypers are getting really easy (also my posterior chain flexibility has improved tons since starting these) Might add some bands to this to increase weight since its becoming a bit too ez even as a prehab excercise.

-Mike

8/7/2008

Speed Box Squats

2x135
2x155
2x2x165
2x2x175

Deadlifts

4x315
3x335
2x355
2x365
1x375 PR

Rev. Hypers

3x10

Bench Press

5x185
5x205
3x225 PR

Felt really good today. Hit my loooong standing goal of 2 plates for bench (yay). Had my gf spotting but dunno how much help she would been..hopefully enuff but didnt need it altho rep 3 was a pretty big struggle. Deads was really good added some weight and hit a couple PR's. Speed squats were also feeling good. Added a bit of weight and thought my bar speed was still really good. Rev hypers I tried to add a band and that failed miserably and i looked like an iddddiiot. Might try again next time with the band wrapped somewhere else on the stand...dunno.

Notes: Picked up some green tea extract, some CoQ10 and some new fish oil today. My old fishoil i realized has nowhere near enuff EPA/DHA in it (like 40/80 and im taking only a couple caps a day..its cheap stuff) I think new stuff has like 300/200 or 400/200 or something so that should be much better. Also my weight is up to 188 which is good altho I could prolly use a cut soon (prolly wont tho since summer almost over...hopefully the green tea helps a tiny bit altho I mainly got it for my gf). Also have 2/4 of my goals done for powerlifting now. Need 405 deadlift (-30) and 1000 total (-50ish atm Im guessing). So hopefully soon!

-Mike

Edit: Jeffs log has lots of cool pictures and mine doesnt so heres a couple from the lake this weekend




-Mike

8/11/2008

Back Squat

5x280
5x300
4x315 PR(failed 5th rep..close)

Box Squats

5x225
5x235
5x245 PR

Rev Hypers

3x10

Pullups

4xBW+25
4xBW+25
5xBW

Bench Press

5x195
5x205
4x225 PR

Hanging Ab Raises

1 set

Things were good today...i did a light workout on sat but it was super quick and not very good and light on volume. (only 3 sets of squats, and no box squats and some other randomish stuff thrown in) But yah things are progressing...form was rly good I thought even at 315 on all the reps. I think thats the first time Ive failed on back squat but it was fine...just annoying cuz I cant clean much at all especially after I just failed a set of squats soooo I had to take all the plates off before starting box squats to reset the bar. Box squats felt sooo strong today...I def coulda moved the weight up 10lbs more I think. I think it was a combination of a) better form b) didnt do them on sat c) have had a couple good deadlift workouts lately which is prolly increasing my strength out of the bottom. Bench was shaky on the last rep Im pretty sure I need to do some tricep work because Im having lockout probs. Might do some close grip bench or skullcrushers next time. I liked the weighted pullups even tho I went pretty low on the reps...I didnt wanna go lower than a 25 cuz 2 10s would probably look dumb sooo yah. Will probably stay on 25 for a little while till i can do 35.

In Vegas from Tues-Sun so will prolly be back in the gym mon or tues. Not sure if the time off will help (im def. starting to get overtrained since Ive been going every 2nd day for awhile cuz I was trying to get in a lot of workouts before vegas..and Ive also been drinking too often which isnt help) or if it will hurt (5 days of drinking probably gonna hurt the strength). Ill be happy if I stay about where I am.

-Mike

8/18/2008

Back Squat

5x275
5x285
4x285

Box Squat

4x225
5x215

Rev Hypers

3x10

OH Press

5x135
5x145
5x155

WG Pullups

8,6,5

Hanging Ab Raises from PU Bar

2 sets

Well, yep lost some strength. Also lost about 5 lbs in bodyweight. Was off creatine the whole week so that may have a hand in both of those too..or maybe its all attributable to the fact that I drank a ton and ate pretty much nothing because I felt like crap every day. Gotta have some fun sometimes I guess. Squats were pretty tough...box squats were actually on a bit lower of a box sooo that prolly contributed a tiny bit. Actually liked it a bit better than normal (by box I mean bench) but the bench is harder to move than a normal bench so I dunno if Ill do it again. OH press and pullups were actually pretty good. Tied PR on press and pullups 8,6 is pretty good for me..only a couple reps off where I was. So that was good. Anyways hopefully Im not sore as hell for wednesdays workout, and hopefully my strength comes back by next week or something.

-Mike